The present invention is concerned with an operating unit adapted to be incorporated into a watch with a main setting device, which comprises at least two engagement positions, namely one rest position and at least one pulled position, and with at least one auxiliary setting device, as well as with all types of watches suitable for the integration of such an operating unit and comprising said unit, in particular a world time watch with an analogue indication of the time of the day and of a corresponding location for different time zones with an offset relative to the local time by a multiple of an hour or of half an hour and thus allowing a simultaneous and reliable reading of the time of the day for the indicated time zones.
Watches of this type have been available since the introduction of world time zones, following the Meridian Conference in Washington/U.S.A., in 1884, in different versions with respect to their design and to their functioning. These watches often include, in addition to their centrally rotating minutes hand and hour hand, at least one further hand, which indicates the time in the selected time zone. Some of these watches provide means for identifying the displayed time zone, for example such as by permanent inscriptions on the dial, a rotatable ring with inscriptions of the world locations or the like.
Thus, for example, patent FR 2 672 399 discloses a world time watch with an additional analogue display which indicates the time of the day for a time zone different from the local time. This watch can further include an additional concentric hand which indicates a locality representing the time zone selected and which can be set into different positions by means of a pusher. However, this embodiment is not suitable for displaying additional time information of several time zones.
Patent CH 665 930 describes a world time watch with at least one additional display, the additional time of the day information being indicated in that case by three auxiliary dials, which are arranged non-concentrically with respect to the main dial and which include each an hour hand which undergoes a full rotation in 24 hours. Each one of these additional time displays includes a location display in the form of a world location disc similar to a date disc as well as a separate crown which can occupy two positions. The latter enables the user in its pulled position to select simultaneously, but independently of the other time displays, the time of the day and the locality corresponding to the selected time zone in the corresponding additional display. Furthermore, this watch includes a main crown with three positions, namely the rest position for winding up the watch, a pulled position for setting the time displays of the main dial or, in case a pusher is operated, of all dials, and an intermediate position for setting the date. However, the setting, in particular that of the additional time displays, is complicated and time consuming due to the fact that it is carried out by means of crowns.
Patent EP 0 558 756 is directed to a world time watch with at least one additional analogue display for giving the time of the day in different world time zones. Again, auxiliary dials are provided, which are arranged non-concentrically with respect to the central main dial, and a crown with three positions allows to wind up the watch, to reset the date and to reset the time of the day in all the time displays in its non pulled position respectively in the first and in the second pulled positions. In order to simplify the setting of the additional time displays, these are each provided with a pusher, that latter one changing the time of the additional time displays by one hour steps each time it is pressed. However, the absence of location indicators corresponding to the additional time displays, which could allow the identification of each indicated time zone, renders it difficult to read the time information for a given time zone, in particular due to the presence of several additional displays. Furthermore, the pushers can be operated any time, which can easily lead to an involuntary modification of a time indication.
However, none of the embodiments mentioned above allows a simple and optimal implementation of the different possibilities for setting and operation of the corresponding setting devices, resulting in that typically either the different displays of such watches can be set only in a relatively complicated manner or some useful functions of complex watches are simply suppressed due to this undesired complication. In both cases, this results in serious drawbacks for the use of such watches.